The Faults of the Raven
by rememberyourlimitedtime
Summary: "Come now Annabelle, give it up. I grow weary of this game and just tell me why you turned me in." Jack said rubbing his forehead. HE was growing tired of this game? Annabelle wanted to smack him upside the head. Who was the one who tracked down the other across the seas? She had just wanted to leave the name Jack Sparrow behind her.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is my very first story on this website and my first with the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. I hope you enjoy and review. Thanks x**

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_**CHAPTER ONE**_

"The times have changed Jack, what were you expecting? That everything would be the same?"

"And if I was?"

"Then you remain a fool."

"Ah but are the fools really the fools or is it the other way around where the ones who were saying that the fool is in fact not the fool but on the contrary the fool caller is the fool themselves."

"What are you going on about?"

"While you were chatting with me you have made the error to not notice your entire crew has just surrendered to mine."

Annabelle felt the hard metal of a pistol against the back of her head and lowered the sword from Jack's neck dropping it at his feet, "Charles…" Annabelle groaned.

"Sorry Captain." a deep voice muttered from behind her.

"I guess now I'm captain of the ship, love."

"You dirty bastard! How long was your crew stowed upon my ship?"

"About two days, with help of your first mate Charles we managed to stow them away. Funny, we were both betrayed by our first mates. Well, twice for me I suppose."

"You Jack, are the worst man that has ever been spat out of a whore's cu-."

"That's not what you were saying last year love. Boys, put her in the brig. I think we should celebrate with some rum. Rum sounds good, aye?

"Aye, Captain!"

"Jack! I'll slit your throat I swear it!"

"What are we going to do about her Jack? What's the whole point in capturing her ship and all?"

"Revenge, Gibbs. But now, rum."

Annabelle slammed her fists against the wooden wall in the cell that a few hours before held the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. Pain shot up her arm and she screamed in anger. Jack couldn't let it go, she had merely gotten back at him for his lies and trickeries. She may have had feelings for Jack before, but now all she wanted was to see him dead. He couldn't just leave her alone, she had escaped him and yet he tracked her down, took command over her ship and threw her in her own ship's prison cell.

"Shouldn't have done that, love" a voice drawled from the shadows outside her prison cell. With a bottle of rum in hand stepped Jack from the shadows peering at her through the cell as she nursed her hand.

"Yes, well next time I'll save it for your face." Annabelle said through clenched teeth as she slouched against the wall and slid to the ground.

"I wasn't talking about the hand." Jack snarled as he put the flask up to his lips and drank heavily from the bottle. He wiped his mouth as he walked up to the cell and wrapped a hand against one of the bars.

"Oh you mean about when I left you and turned you in? What do you want me to say Jack? That I'm so sorry and regret doing it?" Annabelle laughed, "I don't of regret anything. The money was well worth it for that bounty on your he-"

The sound of glass breaking filled the room as it narrowly missed Annabelle's head. That was her breaking point; Annabelle grabbed a piece of the broken glass and lunged at Jack through the bars. How dare he throw a bottle at her! Her arm snaked through the bar and slashed at his face but he managed to dodge it in his drunken state and firmly grasped her arm. Annabelle tried to wrench her arm free as the pain from him holding it began to grow but Jack yanked her arm through the bars causing her to hit the bars with a great force. She whelped in pain as Jack refused to allow her to move back and continued to pull her against the bar. Blood spilled from her hand so she released the glass shard and it fell to the ground.

"Yer a lying whore!" Jack yelled as he thrust her arm back through the bars. Annabelle jerked back and cradled her arm to see if he had dislocated it or if it would just bruise. It was sore when she moved it but it didn't appear dislocated. Her whole body would be covered in bruises after being slammed into the metal bars.

"Pot calling the kettle black, Jack." Annabelle sneered and kicked at the bars out of anger.

Jack stared at her as he processed what exactly just happened. Light from the moon streamed into the room and Annabelle used it to look at her cut on her hand as she waited for Jack to do something. Tearing her shirt at the bottom hem she used the small fabric to tie around the cut. No doubt it would get infected unless she got something to clean it instead of her dirty piece of fabric, but she didn't think Jack would be willing to help her out at the moment. A scuffling sound brought her attention up from her hand and she glimpsed his dirty white shirt as he slammed the door behind him.

Hopefully he would leave her alone for now until he had figured out what he was going to do with her. After that moment Annabelle was unsure of her outcome from Jack's hand, he was not himself at all when he did that to her. But then again she had tried to stab him with the glass shard and betrayed him for money. Bile rose up in her throat as she contemplated what exactly he would do with her; leave her in the ocean without a lifeboat or shoot her in the head with his pistol.

Annabelle sank to the floor and tried to gather the pile of hay into one pile away from where she planned to sleep. It rank of piss and she wasn't about to lay down in it, the damp plank floor seemed like a nice comforting and clean bed compared to it. There was just so much of it though and even with her best attempt she couldn't move it all away from her. Then there were the glass shards that were spread out against the wall. Annabelle didn't want to cut herself again from the glass shards but she didn't want to sleep to close to the bars. With her back to the door she didn't notice it opening as she contemplated her decision about the glass. It was the sound of keys jangling around that snapped her attention back around as she jumped up.

"Sorry to scare you Annie, but uh, Captain's orders to bring you to his quarters." Gibbs muttered as he looked back down at the keys trying to find the one to open the cell.

"What if I refuse to go to _MY_ quarters? They are mine you know, I'm just currently on vacation in my summer home. Lovely isn't it? I do believe you've visited it before. And besides, I much prefer the company of these disgusting rats than that of his." Annabelle growled as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall trying to look as if she could not care less about Jack's demands.

"Uh, well he did say something about throwing you over board and letting Davey Jones deal with your sorry carcass…or something along the lines of that." Gibbs said as he maintained full focus on the keys avoiding Annabelle's eyes.

"The company of Sparrow or death, hmm" Annabelle said uncaringly, "I think that death sounds great. I choose option two." Annabelle clapped her hands together. She wouldn't go so easily to Jack's quarters even if it did end with her in the cold dark waters.

"Annie," Gibbs said exasperated with her and him still not being able to find the right key for the lock, there was just far too many keys that belonged on the ring, "Just hear what he has to say, please. It wouldn't be right to just throw you overboard. I think the Captain would do it too, considering what you've done."

"Don't I deserve it though, Gibbs?" Annabelle asked as she approached the bars and grasped them so she was face to face to Gibbs.

"I reckon you probably don't but I don't know what happened between you and Jack. I don't understand how you could a done that to him after you two were so close and such. Damn keys!" Gibbs cried in anger.

"The key to the cell is the black curved one, you have to jiggle it a bit before the cell unlocks." Annabelle quietly said and stepped back from the bars.

"Oh, right. Thanks." Gibbs muttered as he took the black key and jiggled it around in the keyhole until a loud click was heard.

Annabelle stepped out of the cell and walked in front of Gibbs offering her uninjured arm to him to escort her to Jack. Gibbs grabbed it and began to walk fairly quickly nearly dragging her behind him as she tried to keep up. It was as if he couldn't get out of her company fast enough, or that Jack wanted to see her immediately. Gibbs had taken his time in finding the key and possibly would have never of unlocked it without her telling him. They traveled up the ladders and onto the poop deck where she sees all of her crew and that of Jack's having a grand ole time. Adrendiline kicked in her as anger coursed through her bloodstream and she locked eyes with her two faced first mate, Charles. Seeing her evident anger at him, he quickly looked away and slipped into the crowd of men that surrounded players playing Lair's Dice.

"Three sevens!" One man rang out as she was pulled by, and another man shouted at that man calling him a liar. She didn't know whether the first man was a liar as she grew farther from the crowd and could only hear their laughter. The faint sound of a violin being played drifted over the crowd's laughter and Annabelle could only think about how quickly her crew seemed to get over the sacking of their captain. She had chosen very wrong at Tortuga for her crew, seems loyalty was very hard to find nowadays. Though, Annabelle was one to talk. Perhaps it was merely Karma inflicting the compensation that was due to her. It would seem she was no better than these men and that thought caused her to question her move that she made against Jack. Turning him in wasn't just something she did because she wanted the money, it was because he was a liar and had made her out to be a fool.

Gibbs released her arm as they arrived outside of the new Captain's quarters. "Well, uh, here ya go. I suggest you kno-" he stopped with his suggestion as Annabelle glared at him and crossed her arms. "Or I could." He muttered.

Gibbs pounded against Jack's door and shifted his weight as he waited for Jack to open up. Nothing happened, the only sound they could hear was the roar of laughter from the crew on the deck.

"Well looks like no one is home, I best go back to my cell then." Annabelle said and turned around but was stopped when she felt pain from a hard hand snatching her injured arm. She gasped in pain but was ignored by Jack as he threw her into his room. His throw left her unsteady on her feet and she crashed to the floor knocking down the stand that held her sunflower. The pot broke upon contact with the floor and dirt seeped out across the ground.

"Ah, Gibbs. I see you have brought the prisoner here to me, finally. I had assumed she might have slit your throat and drifted away on a lifeboat. But here she is. Goodnight, Gibbs." Jack said calmly as he slammed the door in Gibbs face.

Annabelle felt a rush of panic seep through her as she watched Jack bolt the door shut. She didn't know what he would do with her and she was damned if she let him do anything. Glancing behind her she made out the tray of food from last night's dinner. Steak with potatoes, or a sorry of excuse of potatoes she remembered. The steak had been fantastic, but the potatoes had her wondering if her cook could tell whether or not he knew what a potato was. If she hadn't of been told what they were supposed to be she would of guessed that they were round dark brown balls of soap. The potatoes were not her object of interest though; it was the steak knife that lay beside them. With Jack's back still turned back to her she bolted for the knife but just as soon as she had dashed for it, she felt Jack's body tackle her from the back.

"Do you honestly think that I am stupid enough to have missed the knife?" Jack laughed as he pinned her hands to the floor as he sat on her back. Annabelle tussled against Jack but it seemed a weak attempt as it did nothing to release his grip on her.

"You did leave it out Sparrow." Annabelle snarled through her clenched teeth. He had to be an idiot to just have left out the knife. Either way, he would have to let her go or kill her because the moment he let her go she would go for the knife.

"Why are you going by my last name love?" Jack smirked, "If I do recall we are much more acquainted than most seeing as how I fucked you." He stood up dragging her with him towards the knife.

"You're a despicable and revolting man!" Annabelle screamed as she fought against Jack's hold and reached for the knife.

Jack threw her against the wall and pinned her against it with one of his hands, the other took the knife in his and he held it to her throat.

"I really should just kill you and end this game of cat and mouse. What's one less whore in the world." Jack jeered at Annabelle, the pressure that he held against her neck broke her skin and blood trickled from the newly made wound.

"Can you really kill me though Jack?" Annabelle gasped trying to refrain from much movement so the knife wouldn't cut any deeper.

Jack remained silent as she could clearly see that he was questioning the same thing. Perhaps she wouldn't mind anymore, at least she wouldn't have to ever see him again. He couldn't follow her in death as well as in life to carry out more revenge. With him so close to her she could only inhale the stench of liquor that came off of him. Old Jack always the same man, and nothing new it would appear. His black eyeliner was smeared against his face, she had always wondered why he had adorned himself with that. He had confessed to her that with it he felt _more_ like a menacing and yet dashing pirate. She closed her eyes at the memory of it, that moment had been happier times when she had been ignorant of what he really wanted from her.

"You were ready to kill me when you were in the cell." Jack answered finally as Annabelle opened her eyes. He locked his eyes with her and didn't remove them. Annabelle couldn't handle his scrutiny as he refused to look away so she was the first to break it.

"You did take over my ship, how could I not have animosity against you after that?" Annabelle growled at him staring at the door behind him wishing she was running through it away from him.

"Well, you did turn me in love." Jack shrugged as lowered the knife from her throat and released her. Annabelle staggered away from Jack as he went over to her window and opened it. He played with the knife for a bit as Annabelle stared at him feeling as if her heart was going to jump out of her chest. She began to tremble and was instantly furious at herself for it; she didn't want Jack to see how terrified she was of him.

"Why'd you betray me?" Jack asked quietly as he continued playing with the knife. With her refusal to answer Jack snarled and thrust the knife out the window and turned to Annabelle just as fast. "I had planned on using that you know! Perhaps leave a scar on you as you left one on me! Remember? From where you stabbed me with your blade when you and the damn trading company attacked my ship. When they boarded my ship and we were supposed to fight against them together!" His shouts pierced Annabelle's ears and with each sentence she winced from the blunt truth.

He advanced on her and grabbed her wrists and pinned them to her sides as he pushed her against the wall. His eyes bore into hers as if looking for an answer and yet she still denied him it. Annabelle knew she should just say what had made her turn her back to him, but she felt as if he deserved nothing from her. So she remained reluctant to answer.

"Answer me!" Jack screamed at her. Annabelle pierced the inside of her hand with her nails to keep her from crying. She would not let her tears spill from her eyes in his presence; she wouldn't appear weak in front of him. "I gave you everything! And yet you betrayed me! I deserve to know why!"

Silence filled the cabin as he waited for her to respond to his demands, but Annabelle remained silent. What right did he have to demand from her? He had taken everything from her. Everything she had ever loved owned and cared for.

"You won't answer me? I know how to make you talk." Jack snarled as he slammed his lips against hers. Annabelle had expected something like this especially with his drunken state, even if it felt good she wouldn't respond. He was a liar and a…she lost her trail of thought as Jack tried to deepen the kiss.

Annabelle pulled her wrists out of his hands and wrapped them around his shoulders as she responded right back. Jack moaned and wrapped his hands around her waist as he began to pull her towards the bed. Annabelle knew where this was leading but she found that she didn't really care, even after it all she still wanted him. The consequences of this would be thought of later because at this moment the only thing she wanted was him. It had been a little over a year since they had kissed for what she thought would be the last time. She was very wrong, but at the moment she was more than happy that she had been wrong. The back of Annabelle's knees hit against the bedframe and caused her to fall backwards onto it with Jack falling right on top of her. They continued to lock lips as their hands traveled over one another desperately as if they were each other's life line.

Jack's hands moved quickly down the front of her coat and pulled it off her body; Annabelle was only too happy to have it off and tossed of Jack's and tugged his shirt off. Tattoos covered his body and she traced the lines of some of them, Jack responded by moaning into her mouth that made her break into a grin. Impatiently he broke the kiss and pulled her shirt of off her and kissed down her jaw eagerly with her moaning in response. With Annabelle's moan Jack stiffened and pushed off of her and picked up his shirt putting it back on. Annabelle felt humiliated and disgusted with herself, she was acting like a wanton harlot. And with the man that she hated more than anyone else in the world. She felt her cheeks burning and she snatched her shirt and threw it on watching out of the corner of her eye as Jack did the same with his own shirt.

"Sorry love to disappoint you, but it would seem I'm not drunk enough to fuck you. I still remember how much I hate you." Jack laughed as he walked over to her desk that was pushed against the wall. He turned the chair around so he could look at her while he sat. "But it looks as if you're willing and all it takes is just a kiss to spark your blood. You really are a whore."

"Is that really the best insult you can muster up for me? I think someone as foul as you can do better." Annabelle sneered at him as she buttoned up her coat. After clothing herself she sat on the bed and crossed her legs and arms staring him down. She was an idiot.

"Come now Annabelle, give it up. I grow weary of this game and just tell me why you turned me in." Jack said rubbing his forehead. _HE_ was growing tired of this game, Annabelle wanted to smack him upside the head. Who was the one who tracked down the other across the seas? She had merely wanted to leave the name Jack Sparrow behind her and start anew.

"You damn well know why," Annabelle said grinding her teeth, "Let me give you a hint dear Jack Sparrow. Elizabeth." As soon as she said that name she noticed Jack stiffen. Noticing his reaction to the name made Annabelle's heart drop. She knew what was going on between him and Elizabeth; she had begun to notice it upon her first conversation with Elizabeth.

The looks shared between Elizabeth and Jack had her wanting to throw the girl overboard. Stupidly, Annabelle had figured that due to the relationship between Elizabeth and noble Will that nothing would happen. Walking in on the man that had supposedly loved her making love to the woman she hated showed Annabelle just how wrong she was on assuming that. The two secret lovers thought they could be hidden by the tall boxes full of cargo on the ship. Their moans and cries of ecstasy carried over the shadows giving them away. Annabelle couldn't even remember why she went down there in the first place, something about getting a new candlestick for one of Jack's crew. Seeing him touch another in ways he was only supposed to touch her made something in her break.

She remembered seeing Elizabeth first and feeling extremely embarrassed on seeing such an act between her and who she had thought was Will. Elizabeth's moan of Jack's name made Annabelle see clearer who the other lover was. After leaving the room unnoticed by the secret lovers, everything clicked for Annabelle. With the engagement between Will and Elizabeth drove her to turning in Jack, especially after catching the two again a day after the announcement.

"What of Elizabeth?" Jack snarled, "This has nothing to do with her." His hands went to the arms of the chair and gripped the seat so hard; Annabelle thought he might crush it.

"'_What of Elizabeth?'_" Annabelle said mocking each word of what he said, "Don't play dumb now Jack. The two of you were going at it behind my and Will's back. I made it very clear to you that I don't take to kindly to liars and cheaters."

"We were ending it. Elizabeth's getting married to the Saint Will and going to have many happy little fat babies that will shit everywhere. She just wanted to have some fun before getting married." He shrugged nonchalantly while crossing his arms.

The saying 'seeing red' was an understatement for Annabelle at Jack's words. Not only did everything seem to take on a hint of red making her feel like a charging bull but adrenaline spiked up her back from his blunt words. Before Jack could even react to Annabelle's sudden movement, she leapt up from the bed and smacked him hard against his left cheek snapping his neck to the side.

"And if I was giving Will some fun before his marriage would you not give a fuck too? What if I had started fucking Gibbs for fun? Would you just accept it?" Annabelle yelled at him moving her hand towards his face as he turned back to look at her.

"It's different!" Jack yelled as he snatched her right arm from locking onto his cheek again. "You're too young to understand!"

"You're too old to be acting like an immature child!" Annabelle screeched at him as she tried to yank her arm away from his hold.

"Ah, but you do agree that you're too young to understand." Jack grinned as he tightened his lock upon her arm.

"It doesn't even matter anymore Sparrow! I'm done with you and your tongue twisting. Why don't you just go and sweep sweet Elizabeth off her feet away from the too good of a man Will!" Annabelle snapped at him as she pushed against him with her free arm to try and create some distance between them. He had stood up and was too close for Annabelle's liking.

"Let's not talk about Elizabeth. If I do recall you had your little rendezvous' with a certain Commodore! Don't try and play innocent Evelyn!" Jack growled and yanked her closer to him and was close enough that if someone walked in they would think that they were about to kiss.

"You're so incredibly daft!" Annabelle screamed, "I meet with the Commodore many times to contact the West India Trading Company to take off the bounty of my head! I managed to do so, might I add, by turning in yours and they gave me a rather nice looking sump of cash. It was quite lovely."

Jack snarled at her and threw her onto the ground and walked away from her towards the door. "It seems as if our little chat needs to end before I regret what I might do…or not do." He trailed off and slammed open the door.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Get your bleeding arse over her now!" Jack screamed out the open door.

Annabelle couldn't hear any sounds of laughter or talking from the crowd and wondered if they all had retired. Or were frighten by their new captain's state. What a way with men she seemed to have. Jack walked back towards her and Annabelle scrambled to get up. She didn't need to be yanked around anymore for the day. Grabbing her arm he pulled her towards the door and thrust her out into the arms of a red faced Gibbs.

"Sorry Jack I wa-" Gibbs began but Jack quickly interrupted him.

"Gibbs, take Evelyn back down to the brig. She needs some time alone to think about what I'm about to offer her." Jack said grinning at Annabelle as she pushed off of Gibbs and stood in front of him. Gibbs was a few inches taller than Annabelle so he leaned on her right side to get a better look at Jack.

"What will be your offer to me oh great Captain of makeup?" Annabelle quipped standing tall against Jack.

"In the morning-er no that's not good for me. I'll be having a rather nasty hangover tomorrow so let's say the late evening. Late evening I will go to your little homey cell to receive your answer. No, Gibbs will receive your answer. I don't want to deal with you when I wake up," Jack drabbled on as Annabelle began to impatiently tap her foot against the wooden deck floor just outside his door, "The offer is love, I either throw you over board where you'll have to fend for yourself in the open water with nothing or, you become a sort of slave, I suppose, on the black pearl."

"What." Annabelle said in disbelief. "You're giving me the option of dying in the waters or being a slave to you? What are you going to do with my ship?" She demanded.

"Burn it, sell it, give it to your crew. Now that I have answered all your questions…" Jack slammed the door in her face and she heard the bolt locked.

"Come on girl." Gibbs sighed and Annabelle followed shuffling her feet behind him. She ignored the looks of the crew, she had been right about them being frightened by Jack's shouts. To be honest with herself, she had been too. All she had been doing so far was riling him up, but he deserved. Not a smart plan on her hand to survive but it did make her feel better in a way.

This time the walk back to the iron barred cell was much quicker than before. Annabelle found herself quite exhausted from all the events of today, she thought about the options Jack had given her. The humility of being a slave to Jack had her wanting to jump of the ship herself. Gibbs opened the gate for the cell for her and Annabelle stepped in. She remained silent as she began to kick the glass away from where she planned on curling into a ball and sleeping. The clicking sound of the lock being turned brought her attention back on Gibbs.

"G'night Annie. Um, you know. During the whole rescue mission for Miss Swan you grew on me, so as a friend, I'm suggesting you take Jack up on his slave thing. When we dock somewhere you could always just slip away, any bird brain could realize that. Jack's not making any sense lately…"Gibbs mumbled.

Annabelle smiled at him and said, "Thanks Gibbs, I'll keep that in mind. Good night."

He nodded and trailed out of the room leaving her alone with only the short candlestick burning by the door. With almost all of the glass pushed away from her spot she knelt on the ground and curled into a ball and closed her eyes. It smelled quite terrible and the hard wood floor did nothing to help lull her to sleep. She sighed knowing that it was going to be a long and cold night.

Throughout the night Annabelle had woken up shivering, after the third awakening she gave up on the idea of sleep and started pacing the cell. There had to be some way to get out of the cell, she had hours to spare thinking up a plan to escape. She figured it couldn't even be dawn yet and that only a few hours had passed. Walking from one end to another of the cell she darted her eyes around the room barely making out anything visible in the dim candlelight burning near the door. Another reason why she had figured not much time had passed, it wasn't fully burned out and only about a fourth of it had been melted.

"Come on Annabelle, think this through. It shouldn't be that hard. This ship is rather old and the bars should be rather weak. What did Will do when you and that bastard where stuck in the cells before? Great I'm talking to myself." Annabelle said shaking her head, she remembered Will using a bench to pry apart the bar from the hinges but there was no bench in the cell with her. There was only pissed on hay and broken glass lying around the small damp and cold cell.

Out of frustration she began to kick at the bars and screamed out profanities. So far her life had been nothing but bad luck after bad luck. The daughter and father relationship she had with a man who had not been her father was one; if it wasn't for him she wouldn't have been a pirate. She could have been a common housewife by now, or a nun, anything besides a pirate caged in the cells of her own ship. Then there was the all the ships she had helped her Pirate father pilfer from. It had been a rather nice time until she was betrayed by him and his blood daughter. Thrown to the sharks so they could run off with the gold and jewels they had ransacked from a West India Trading Company ship. And what had Annabelle done? Killed the captain of that ship, stole a life boat and got the hell out of there. It was her life or his, and she wasn't going to die so easily. Especially with the vengeance she needed to complete with the phony pirate father.

On her escapade to find that pirate she had hidden on a trading boat as a boy until she made dock at an English city. That hadn't been a pleasant journey, even posing as a boy nearly got her raped by a disgusting looking man. She shuddered at the memory of it; it was something she didn't care to remember much. The man had been so close to exposing her secret but was thankfully caught by the captain himself while he was trying to rip of her pants. Luckily for Evelyn the captain was so sickened by the man that he threw him overboard.

When she made dock on the boat she had almost in a few moments ran into Jack quite literally. He even mistook her for a boy and was quite annoyed with her bumping into him. That was until her hat fell of her head and her long hair fell out of it. As soon as he realized she was a girl he quickly recognized her as a wanted pirate. With the threat of being exposed she had followed him, he had given her two options then she remembered. Either he turns her in or she helps him hijack a boat and sail it. The stupid idiot had gotten them both arrested within hours all because he couldn't keep his hands off of the Governor's daughter. Then she got pulled into a journey with a love sick man to save his one true love with Jack. Her bad luck only seemed to go up from there.

Jack had been quite charming and had pursued her after a few weeks of sailing together. There were countless reasons why she was an idiot for falling for him so quickly. Annabelle had never known the loving of a man, she was young and he was very handsome. When they finally rescued Elizabeth her beauty was quite extraordinary compared to that of Annabelle's and she could see the lust in Jack's eyes.

She kicked at the bars again feeling anger flush through her body; it just wasn't fair for her. Never could she seem to gain any chance of being even remotely happy for a while. As soon as she felt like things could change and everything could only go right, she'd get shoved back into shit and pissed on. Wrapping her hands around the bars she began to shake them as she sobbed angrily staring into the wooden floor.

"Hello poppet." A voice drawled across from her, she recognized the voice but she couldn't find the name to match it.

"What do you want?" she barked looking up at the short man who was standing beside the door as another walked into the room. While the other was short, the other man was rather lengthy and thin. As the light from the candlestick touched their faces she recognized who they were right away. They had been the crew members for Barbosa and her recently new acquired crew members as well when she came upon them in the ocean yelling at each other in a rowboat. No loyalty at all these days.

It was quite comical to Annabelle as she looked at the two. IT was like they were opposites of each other. One was short and tubby while the other was tall and skinny. The short one lacked some hair at the top of his head and the other sported a short cropped cut that fell in a line along his ears. They were here to try and get a show from her, she figured. But when the short plump up held up a ring of keys, Annabelle's heart raced, looks like they wanted more than just a show.

"I think you know what we want…"the short one laughed as he walked towards her with a large grin on his face.

"Yeah, you know what we want." The other giggled as he followed behind the fat one.

Annabelle fought herself from smirking as the two stood directly in front of her with the only thing separating the three was the metal bars. These two had to be idiots; she wondered how though they managed to swipe the keys from Gibbs.

"Oh no please! No! Please!" Annabelle cried, clearly sounding as if she was acting but the two men could not detect the deceit laced in her voice . She scurried backwards away from them for added affect and sank to the ground. Her hands moved behind her back as she began to search for a large piece of glass.

"Come on love, we'll be gentle." The fat one laughed as he took a key and tried to use it for the lock.

"Yeah, we'll be gentle." The lengthy one giggled.

As they both continued to laugh Annabelle managed to find a good size of a glass shard. She'd have to be quick and use her fists as well. Her body was already bruised from Jack earlier and no doubt she'd be in a worse shape after this. But the two seemed quite stupid and getting past them would no doubt be quite easy for her.

"Aren't you gonna unlock the door?" the lengthy one asked as the short one continued to fiddle around with the keys in his hands.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" the fat one snapped back.

"Maybe you should try the black one." The other one said as he pointed towards it.

The short fat one glared at the other man and said, "I already tried that now didn't I?" he yelled back at the lengthy one.

Rolling her eyes Annabelle responded back, "You have to jiggle the black key in the lock you morons."

"Why thank you poppet." The shorter man grinned thinking he had gotten the better of Annabelle. The lengthy man was practically rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

The fat one managed to get the lock to open and swung the door open and begun to advance upon Annabelle but was knocked aside by the lengthy one.

"I'm going first!" The fat one snapped at the lengthy one and pulled him behind him.

"That's not fair." The other one said and pushed the fat one aside.

"Whoever said I like being fair?" the other one grunted as he pushed the other away from Annabelle.

This really was ridiculous. Annabelle didn't need the glass shard after all for the two began to tussle around on the ground and the keys to the cell lay on the ground a foot to the side of them as they fought in her cell. She got up without them paying her any attention and grabbed the keys. They continued punching and kicking each other on the ground with weak attempts to harm the other. So Annabelle slipped out of the cell closed the bar door and locked it with the black key. The sound of the lock clicking into place snapped both the heads up of the two idiots who had their hands to the others' throats.

"Now if you'll excuse me gentleman, I really must be off now. I enjoyed your visit and please do tell Jack I send my love!" Annabelle giggled as she watched the two trying to shove each other off themselves and scramble up.

"Get back here and unlock this door!" the fat one yelled at her as he ran towards the bars and tried to reach out to her through the bars. He was just a short distance away and the lengthy one stood back behind the short one quietly fuming.

These two were definitely not to bright. To annoy them some more, Annabelle danced a bit to mock their idiocy. And with their shouts of fury she bowed and left the room. She placed the key chain around the burning candle just so they could see the keys but not reach them. As Annabelle crept silently up to the deck she had to stop herself from humming aloud. Creeping past Gibbs sleeping in a hammock with the rest of the crew she almost stopped to dance quietly next to him but realized how foolish she was acting. Limited time was granted to her to pull the lifeboat from below and place it on the sea. The stars would map her way to land which couldn't be more than a two days away.

The only problem was that Jack would know where she would be going. He would always know because of his need to seek revenge on her. His damn compass would probably point her out. Tortuga wasn't that big of a place to try and hide herself. Nonetheless she would try to escape from Jack. Annabelle passed by another sleeping crew and stole his blanket that had fallen to the dirty floor. It would be extremely cold during the night as she traveled and her coat wouldn't be enough for her. During the day the sun would more than likely leave her sweltering hot but she would just lose some article of clothing to cool herself down.

The soft sound of waves hitting against the boat was the only sound that she could hear when she reached the deck. It was a quiet night on the seas and would be especially tricky to keep quiet when getting the lifeboat off of the deck without too much sound. The Captain's quarters were directly in front of the only lifeboat she could pull.

"Shite." Annabelle groaned as she walked slowly trying to keep her steps quiet as she approached the lifeboat. Her luck had run out that night for certain when she noticed that the only ropes attached to the lifeboat had been cut.

"Going somewhere love?" Jack said as he stepped out from behind a stack of barrels next to the lifeboat. All of this had been too easy; Annabelle should have known with her luck that her escape from her cell had been too good to be true.

"It would appear that I'm not." Annabelle sighed dropping the blanket to her side. She angrily yelled at herself for not grabbing a pistol or a blade from one of the sleeping crew. Or even the damn glass she had dropped on the floor when she left the brig.

Jack walked up to her until he was only a foot away from her, if she wished to she could reach out and touch him. The moonlight illuminated his features casting dark shadows around his nose and below his neck and Annabelle couldn't help but notice.

"What say you?" Jack asked her smirking as he shifted his weight so he was leaning on his left foot.

"What?" Annabelle asked confused, did he want her to explain herself for trying to escape while everyone was supposed to be asleep.

"About the offer I was so kind to give you." Jack grinned. He bent over to pick up the blanket lying on the ground next to her. It was a dark blue holey looking thing that looked in need of being burned. He observed the blanket in his hands and glanced giving her a questioning look.

"It was to keep warm," Annabelle said defensively as she flicked her hair out of her face, "And about your offer, I'd rather die."

"I thought you might say that." Jack smirked.

Before Annabelle could even process the idea of fighting back, Jack had dropped the blanket and threw her over his shoulder as he headed towards the rail of the ship.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I have not abandoned this story, I just lost motivation for a while and then I got extremely busy with graduation along with other things. When I first started writing this story I did it more so because one day I had Microsoft open and next thing I knew I was writing the first chapter. At first I wasn't sure where I was heading with this story so there was a major time space between this chapter and the first as I tried to decide on a plot and the rest of the storyline. Now I know exactly where I am going with this. That being said I wanted to thank those who still are following me and have me Favorited though the large delay was horrible. Thank you to those who reviewed as well. Expect much sooner updates with nice long chapters. Thanks x**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or any of it's characters nor am I making any profits from writing this story.  
**

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_**CHAPTER TWO**_

"Jack put me down now!" Annabelle squirmed and kicked against Jack's constricting arms that held onto her as he practically skipped over to the railing.

"Uh-uh-uh Annabelle, you rejected my offer. I have no choice now. I can't have people saying I don't stick to my word." Jack lifted Annabelle over the rail of the ship and dangled her loosely from his arms. "That is, unless you revoke your rejection to my offer." He grinned, flashing her golden and yellow teeth that adorned his mouth.

Annabelle cried out and struggled to grip onto Jack tightly, "What would you have me do Jack? What do you want from me?"

"Everything, and nothing from the good sort." He chuckled while he let one of his hands drop from his hold on her. Annabelle slid off his body and over the rail of the ship with one of his hands holding tight around her wrist. Her other hand grasped desperately at the rail but it was his hold that kept her from falling to the cold waters below.

The spray of the sea sent shivers down her spine, knowing that the dark waters, cold and fearsome waited to welcome her into their crushing embrace.

"Damn it, fine! I accept your bloody offer! I accept!" Annabelle screamed up at him.

The light from the moon adorned his face with shadows making his features appear more sinister. "I thought you might say that," he laughed and reached down with his other arm and pulled her up. He was unprepared for the total weight of Annabelle and she fell on top of him. Smiling smugly he said, "And now my love, begins the rest of your life in servitude to me."

"I'll never forget this! Don't you dare think I'll forgive you for this!" she snarled down at him and pushed away from his body.

Jack stood up and aligned his shirt that had strayed too far left from the tumble, "That's the idea, Annabelle." He snatched her arm and dragged her back towards the cells below the ship, "And whenever the sudden urge hits me that I no longer want to see your lying face upon my ship, it'll be off to Davey Jones' locker for you."

Annabelle tried to pull her arm out of Jack's grasp but he held on too tight for her to break it. "What do you want me for? I do- I don't understand! What's the whole point of this? To make me hate you? I already do." She spat at him.

Jack whirled her around and shoved her into the door that led down below the deck. The door smashed open and Annabelle went tumbling down the stairs, landing hard on her elbow. Her other arm tingled in pain from Jack's earlier abuse but somehow it managed to avoid hitting the ground. Ignoring Jack's laughs, Annabelle used the wall to help her up. She was done dealing with Jack and she didn't want him touching her any longer. Annabelle turned away from Jack and marched back to the cells.

There was no escaping the man. She should have known better than to openly betray Jack like that. Even Will and Elizabeth, her once considered friends, had been shocked by her actions. They had all thought of themselves as a close knit posse of outcasts bound together by their friendship of one and another. The truth of the matter was that each and every single one of them was only out for themselves. Annabelle had already experienced this from someone she thought of as a father and it gave her the large scar across her back.

She really should have known better than to trust anyone. Trust was a fool's hope. Annabelle had confessed everything to Jack. She had given herself to him when she had been with no other man before. Jack had whispered promises into her ears that tasted like honey and like a bear she ate them up and believed his every word.

Annabelle shoved past the sleeping hammocks, purposely rocking each and arousing the sleeping occupants. After she had fled from Jack's arrest, Annabelle had left Port Royal and fled to Tortuga to try and find her luck. Through means she didn't want to remember she had gotten a ship and enough gold to buy a crew that proved to not be trustworthy. News had gotten back to her several months ago that upon Jack's arrest he was going to be executed. Annabelle had been outraged by that, she hated Jack but not enough to want him dead.

Commodore Norrington had promised her that Jack wouldn't be hanged but imprisoned. At first, Annabelle considered heading back to Port Royal and rescuing Jack but as soon as she was about to make up her mind, word got out to her that he had already been saved and by a certain blacksmith. The news made Annabelle conflicted about how she should feel. At one point she found herself glad that he had managed to escape his death but the lingering thought that he might seek her left her paranoid.

Weeks passed and Annabelle had forgotten all about Jack, her mind only focused on a target that had arrived in port days ago. The target was a small ship that was headed for Spain. Though the ship was small Annabelle had under good confirmation that it harbored expensive wine and jewels. Everything had been going smoothly when she boarded the ship with her crew and took the crew as hostages. That was until their familiar faces met her eyes and she recognized them to be Jack's crew. Her heart had been beating furiously in her chest when she had grabbed Gibbs and demanded to know if he was on the ship. It wasn't beating in anticipation to see the man she used to love; it was beating because she was absolutely scared. Annabelle knew Jack was no forgiving man and she had committed the worst act against him as a lover and fellow pirate.

Almost hauntingly, Jack had stridden out of the captain's quarters with a smirk on his face and a gun pointed at Annabelle. That was the only moment her crew had actually been on her side, each one had pointed their gun at Jack and looked to her for the next move. It had been anything but a sweet meeting and some of her crew had to subdue Jack and drag him to the prisoner's cell with the rest of his crew trailing awkwardly behind them. The small ship was ransacked and small amounts of rum were the only things that were within the ship. It was all a ploy and like a fool Annabelle had fallen for it. Once Jack and the rest of his crew were secured below deck she had escaped to her quarter's trying to figure out what she would do with them, with him.

Then the great big commotion had forced her out of the safety of her quarters and that was when her entire crew had turned against her, including her first mate, Charles. He was someone that Annabelle had begun to grow close and fond to in the short months the two had known each other. But of course, like everyone else Annabelle had ever known, he betrayed her.

"Let us out!" the stout balding man yelled at Annabelle as she stormed into the brig. Both the other man and the stout man had their hands on the bars and matching bloody noses. Annabelle would have laughed at the pathetic men if she wasn't in such a sour mood.

"Shut up, I'm letting you worthless sacks of shite out. Don't even think of trying anything or I'll make sure you never walk again, understand me?" Annabelle threatened as she pulled out the cell keys and fingered for the black one in the dimly lit room.

"Oh, you'll get what's coming to you girly." the stout one chuckled at her and the tall one joined him. Their smiles disappeared off their faces once Jack entered the room, "Ah! Captain! Lucky you came back in time the girly here, she tricked us, you see."

"Tricked us she did." The tall one repeated, nodding his head.

Jack glanced wearily at Annabelle and she rolled her eyes, "These two pricks," she kicked at the bars, "thought they could get a nice lay. The idiots fought and I managed to escape. You really need a better crew Jack."

Jack smirked, "Aye, probably, but who's crew was it that betrayed them for an ounce of gold?"

Annabelle glared at Jack clenching her jaw, "Well, I suppose it's fitting that you surround yourself with dogs seeing as you are one." She turned her back at Jack not caring for his reaction and turned the key in the lock.

She pulled the door open and the two men came staggering out, practically snarling at her. Once they were out of her way she slammed the cell door behind her as she entered it and locked herself in it, throwing the keys at Jack. The keys landed right at his feet and he bent over to pick them up. Annabelle kept her back to Jack and she stepped as far into the cell, not wanting to talk to him or look at him anymore for the night.

"We're heading back to Tortuga to get my ship, and then we're heading to a certain island to get a certain thing for a certain something." Jack stated, his voice getting closer until Annabelle heard the clang of metal against metal. His rings had hit the bars and gave off a familiar memory to her of their short time in the cells at Port Royal.

"Are you purposely being so vague?" Annabelle snapped at Jack. Her eyes glared at the wooden planks of the ship and she almost hoped that they would break open and swallow her away from him. "I'm uncaring in anything you do so you best be off and get back to _MY _captain quarter's before dawn awakens."

Jack laughed and ran his hands against the bars, each hit making a soft thudding noise. "There's something I'm after Anna, something that'll change everything." He was always good at snagging her curiosity, something that she knew was doing intentionally now.

Slowly she turned around to face him, "What exactly is the something that's gonna change everything?"

With a smirk Jack raised up his arms as if he was about to embrace her. "You'll just have to see now won't you?"

Annabelle sneered, "I've had enough of you, Good night Sparrow."

With a slight bow and a wave of his hand Jack sauntered out of the brig leaving behind a furious Annabelle. Sleeping in the brig would be a long and insufferable one that night.

"Tortuga!" loud shouts echoed down to where Annabelle had her head perched against the wooden wall. She had been in and out of sleep for the past five hours waking up from the uncomfortable positions she attempted to sleep in and the cold of the damp brig.

Groaning she stretched her stiff legs and arms. If they were already at Tortuga than it wouldn't be too long before she was shoved out of her own ship and tossed onto the Black Pearl. The advice that Gibbs had given to her about sneaking off was unlikely at this point and would only amuse Jack even more after last night's foiled attempt.

Like clockwork the vibrations of someone's footsteps sounded. To her bitter disappointment it wasn't Gibbs who had come and collected her but Jack.

"Rise and shine, oh, you're already awake. Splendid." Jack strolled over to the bars and fumbled with the keys before sliding the black key into the broken lock. It clicked and the door swung open, "Let's go, we're just about to dock and since we can't stay here too long, we have to make a quick heading."

"What foul act did you do now, Sparrow?" Annabelle sighed sweeping her dark locks out of her eyes. They had been tied together by a leather strap but it had snagged on a loose nail and by tugging to hard it had snapped.

His eyes watched the movement of her hair and paused on her tan neck before they meet her eyes again. Frowning he replied, "What makes you think I did anything of the sort?"

Annabelle rolled her eyes as she walked past him, "You're Jack Sparrow."

"_Captain_, Jack Sparrow." He corrected her.

They reached the deck and the morning dawn blinded Annabelle momentarily. It was chaos on the deck as men ran back and forth trying to secure lines and steady the sails. Off towards the front of the ship was Annabelle's former backstabbing first mate, Charles.

"That conniving piece of…" Jack, not wanting a conflict so early in the morning snatched her arm and pulled her in the opposite direction of the ship. In retribution Annabelle yanked her arm out of his reach and elbowed him in the jaw. He fell back and she took that opportunity to snatch his sword from his tan leather sheathe. The slimy bastard wasn't going to get away with it, not after all she had done for him.

A few men around the two noticed the incident and attempted to subdue her but she shoved them out of her way seeking strength she never had before from her adrenaline burst. Charles head snapped in her direction at her sudden approach and he fumbled for his sword, managing to pull it out before she could slide her own through his neck. The swords clang loudly over the dull roar of the ship.

"Annabelle, I can explain! I can explain!" Charles repeated desperately trying to keep her blade from closing the few inches to his neck.

Annabelle became evermore furious with him. She swung her blade back and jerked it at his legs before moving it back up in an attempt to thwart him. He saw right through her move and deflected it more smoothly.

"If you would just let me say what I need to say to you!" he growled in frustration as he deflected another of her reckless blows.

She had never been an expert swords woman. At an early age she had established herself more along the lines of reading maps and navigating, considering herself more of an explorer than duelist. The man she faced now was among those she considered more than capable of handling a sword expertly which only frustrated her more at his lack of aggression.

"Fight back!" she snarled venomously, lashing out at him with her blade.

The cocking of a pistol from somewhere behind Annabelle caused her to freeze and squeeze her grip on the stolen blade even tighter, turning them white.

"As much as I love theatrics I don't necessarily see ruining a good morning like this with all this shouting. Why don't you give me back my sword?" Annabelle turned to face Jack and the pistol pointed at her face.

This entire act on her part had been reckless and stupid, she could admit to that at the least. Grinding her teeth she approached Jack and slowly raised the blade in an offering. Jack didn't take the sword from her immediately, he looked at her with a calculating or puzzled face, Annabelle couldn't read his expression. Pleased with whatever he had deduced he took the sword out of her hands and returned it to his belt. A nod of his head aimed at Gibbs standing behind him brought the man forward and he quickly bound Annabelle's hands behind her back.

"Annabelle, I needed to do this, for your own good." Charles pleaded. Most of the men on deck had gathered around them and Annabelle felt uncomfortable at the eyes watching her. Charles walked around so that he was facing her and she darted her head away so their eyes didn't meet. He attempted to catch her eyes but gave up at the fruitless effort.

"Always looking out for me…do tell, was gold offered in this transaction?" Annabelle darted her eyes to seer into his, looking for confirmation at what she already guessed.

"That's beside the point." Charles grumbled, glancing away from her guiltily.

"Shove off." Annabelle spat at him, attempting to lurch herself at him but Gibbs hold on her bound hands prevented her.

"That's enough from the lot of you two." Jack snapped, "Seeing as how we're docking right now, Charles, once all my men with the additional woman are all off deck this ship is yours…as goes our deal of course. I'm never one to back out of an arrangement." He grinned as he took Gibbs place, dragging the kicking and shouting woman off the boat.

"So that's it captain, the whole reason we came out this way was for Annabelle." Gibbs mused mostly to himself.

"Quiet." Jack demanded Annabelle as she continued to struggle and kick against him.

"My bloody ship you bastard! You offered my ship to get to me! Are you barking mad?!" she screeched, wiggling against his hold.

"Barking? No. Mad? Yes."

Gibbs sighed heavily as he followed the two bickering fools through the port. They had docked the Black Pearl with Jack's faithful crew when they had gone after Annabelle.

"Quickly Gibbs, we must make the upmost haste. Tell the others to hurry." Jack ordered.

"Come on you mangy dogs, get a move on." Gibbs called to the rest of Jack's straggling crew. The two morons that had given Annabelle the chance to escape were lagging behind and muttering angrily at each other while the other two men that Annabelle did not know were flanking behind them. "Choose the worst of the worst to come with us Capt'n."

"Yes, well couldn't leave these sods in care of my ship now could I?"

"I suppose not."

"What's got your knickers in a twist, Sparrow? Why so intent on leaving Tortuga upon arrival?" Annabelle asked, glancing at the Black Pearl that sat a short while away. It was odd enough that Jack wanted to set out immediately when she knew how much he enjoyed this place.

"Nothing, we need to get underway, time's wasting away."

"So those Spaniards waiting for us up ahead are just looking for directions…" Annabelle jerked her head forward, pointing at the six well uniformed men with hats that outshone Jack's worn out one.

"Oh, bugger." Jack groaned, faltering for a moment as the Spaniards began to walk towards them. "Tell the men to ready themselves, Gibbs."

"Aye Capt'n." Gibbs muttered back, he turned his head around and Annabelle heard him whispering to the men but was unable to make out his words.

"What about me?" Annabelle murmured so low that she wasn't sure that Jack had even heard her.

"It's all under perfect control." He voiced back. Annabelle seriously doubted that.

"You've arrived much sooner than I would have thought, Jack Sparrow." The Spaniard who spoke had a thick accent and much of what he said sounded somewhat slurred.

"Ah yes, it's you...who are you again?"

Annabelle inwardly groaned, was he insane? From his initial reaction he knew exactly who these people were and from the looks of it were deadly. Pissing them off was something they should have been avoiding.

"Florencio de Emiliano Delgado and you have something of mine I want back." His smooth hair was tied back into a short pony tail and the fancy looking clothes he and his men adorned spoke that he was an aristocrat.

"Nope, don't know anyone by that name. I think you have the wrong Jack Sparrow."

Delgado stepped closer to them causing Annabelle to stiffen, one of his eyebrows raised as he noticed her bound hands. If a battle was to take place she would be completely useless and vulnerable with her hands bound. "Are you not, Captain Jack Sparrow and that," he pointed back at the Black Pearl, "be your ship with the black sails?"

"I'm afraid not but if I see this dashing pirate, you will be the first to know." Jack moved to walk around Delgado but his arm reached out and held tightly to Jack's shoulder.

"You stole my ring." Delgado grounded out through his teeth at Jack, his other hand reached for the sword on his belt.

"What ring?"

"That ring." Delgado yanked his hand away from his sword and pointed it a large golden ring that had a silver encrusted serpent intertwined around the tip.

"That ring? Can't be, you see I nicked it off this old haggard woman that drank herself to piss."

Delgado ripped his sword out and pointed it at the side of Jack's neck till it was indenting into his skin almost to the point of making him bleed. "That is _my_ ring." He fumed out.

"I remember now, you were that old haggard woman." Jack nodded agreeably. He shoved Annabelle into Delgado which knocked the Spaniard backwards effectively removing the tip of the blade from his neck. "To arms!" he yelled, pulling out his own sword and lunging at the fallen Spaniard.

Delgado pushed Annabelle off of him and met Jack head on while his men charged Gibbs and the four other men. Swords clashed and rang out over the otherwise empty port. Jack and Delgado fought furiously next to Annabelle and she struggled to avoid their dancing feet. Thinking to favor Jack, Annabelle rolled over to trip Delgado but he stepped over her and Jack was the one to fall.

"What the devil are you trying to do woman?" Jack croaked, jumping back to his feet and lunging at the Spanish aristocrat.

Annabelle ignored him and kept on rolling. By the way everyone was fighting around her she was bound to get injured in some way. Gibbs had been more successful as he had just pulled out his blade from another Spaniard's chest and joined in with the rest of the crew. The two morons were failing miserable and the tactic of their choice was dodging and running while Gibbs tried to spear the Spaniards on their chase. This battle though could benefit her and seeing the sword of the fallen Spaniard a few feet away confirmed it. Annabelle rolled over to it and grasped the sword with her hands and cut blindly, wincing when she nicked her own skin.

The ropes came unbound in time just as a Spaniard that had finished with one of the crew came charging at her. He swung his sword at her head and she rolled under it, slashing at his ankles.

The wounded man fell to his knees and Annabelle quickly slid the sword into his back. From the corner of her eye she could see Jack still fighting with Delgado and it appeared as if the two were equal fighters. Neither one was in the lead and neither one was faltering in their moves. Annabelle was at a dilemma. She could either escape, just as her brain was screaming at her to do, or she could stay and fight and find out what Jack was after now. Curiosity would either be her lucky star or the thing that killed her.

"Bloody hell…" Annabelle groaned. Her mind made up as she ran over to Jack to assist him. Delgado dodged her blade as she swung it at his back and Jack's attempt was thwarted as the two blades met.

"Well, I see my dashing endeavors are too strong for you to resist, eh?" Jack laughed haughtily at her, pushing against Delgado's sword and propelling the Spaniard back towards Annabelle.

Delgado swung his blade at her and she blocked it just before it struck her stomach.

"I want a cut in whatever it is you're hell-bent on dragging me into." She gasped as Delgado drew his blade sharply against her face cutting down along her forehead and straight through her left eyebrow. The blood from the cut dripped into her eye and for a moment she was incapacitated as she brought her hand to her face to wipe at the blood that blinded her.

Jack took that moment to get Delgado's attention back on him by swinging his blade and making it hit against Delgado's arm. The soft delicate fabric did little to protect the Spaniard and it left a long deep cut along his arm. Delgado sang curses at Jack and lunged at him, his sword swinging in the air as Jack retreated from him.

"Get back here!" Delgado shouted at Jack who was bolting away from him towards an empty dock on the port.

A bucket sat to on the side of the narrow dock and Jack kicked it over with his boot just as Delgado caught up behind him. He slid across the yellow liquid, grasping around in the air desperately for something to steady him. One of his feet fell out before him and the rest of him came spiraling down onto the ground. As Delgado rose and reach for his sword that had fallen out of his hold Jack stepped up to him and pointed the tip of his sword to Delgado's throat.

A smirk lined Jack's face, "Smells rather rancid now, almost like…piss. Now tell me, is a silly old ring worth your life?"

Delgado sneered up at Jack, contemplating for a moment. He glanced back at his men still fighting with the others and noticed the fallen bodies of two of his comrades. "The ring is yours, until we meet again." Delgado turned and yelled to the remaining of his men and the tossed down their blades, surrendering.

"Perhaps, my past always does seem to catch up with me, one way or another. Gibbs! Bound up these Spanish dogs."

After gathering up enough sparse rope left around the port, Gibbs, with the help of the fat and skinny man, bound the remaining three. Annabelle stood off to the side, quietly nursing her wound. The wound wasn't deep enough to cause any major injury but it would end up leaving a scar. She did not want to sound so conceited about it so soon but she worried that it would mar her appearance. The other scars on her body remained hidden behind cloth; the one she had gained today would not be so easy to hide.

The Spaniards struggled in their binds after Jack gave a quick bow and headed for his ship, yanking Annabelle's arm with him.

"Ouch! Let go you oaf! If I would have wanted to escape I could have used the opportunity presented to me before and taken it. I'm not running. I want to come with you. I want a cut in whatever it is you're after." She squirmed in his hold but his grip was too tight to break.

"That's a lot of 'wants' from a prisoner." Jack responded irritably.

"Whatever it is you're after you're going to need all the help you can get. You and I both know I'm the best navigator out there. That's why you came after me right before your adventure instead of after. You need me."

"No."

"No?!"

"No." Jack repeated.

"Then you have no navigator." Annabelle seethed, "I will not help you."

"Your cut will be the price of your own freedom. Once this trek is over and done, if I'm pleased with the way you've navigated and so forth, then I will send you on your merry little old way." Jack dragged her onto the ship and let her go once they had boarded.

Not overall pleased Annabelle reluctantly agreed, "So where is this map then so we can get this over and done with?"

"We have to get it first." Jack responded. He turned away from her to yell orders at his crew to take off quickly and they scrambled around untying ropes and welcoming Jack back on the ship.

"You mean you don't already have it?" She grumbled.

He turned back to face her and his eyes darted up, taking in her cut, "You'll have to get that cleaned, could cause an infection by the nasty look of it."

She ignored his comment, "You didn't answer my question."

Jack shrugged and walked away from her, and she followed behind him, "A friend of ours. Shouldn't be too much for us to handle, eh?"

Annabelle stopped and her eyes squinted in suspicion, "And who might that _friend _be?"

Jack continued to walk away from her not bothering to stop but she could still hear his voice over the shouts of his crew, "Will Turner."

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